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Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon arrives at the KT Gwanghwamun Building West in Seoul to appear for questioning at the office of Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki, who is investigating allegations that polling expenses were secretly paid on his behalf. / Source: Yonhap News

The People Power Party (PPP) plans to hold a protest rally in front of the court on December 2, coinciding with the warrant review hearing for its lawmaker and former floor leader Choo Kyung-ho.

In a notice issued Monday afternoon, PPP floor leader Song Eon-seok called for full participation, saying, “We ask all lawmakers to attend the rally and unite behind former floor leader Choo Kyung-ho as he confronts this unlawful special counsel investigation.”

PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said the party is considering having all 107 of its lawmakers take part in the protest. “A final decision has not yet been made, but many members are calling for full participation, so it will likely move in that direction,” he said.

Park also addressed the indictment of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, stressing the party’s intention to mount a united defense. “We must respond as one team,” he said. “We view this matter as extremely serious.”

In an earlier statement, Park condemned the indictment as “a blatant political operation aimed at shaking Seoul’s municipal administration and influencing the local elections, and a clear case of interference in the local polls.”

He went on to say, “Just months before next year’s local elections, prosecutors have pushed ahead with a ‘smear indictment’ that forces a predetermined conclusion onto a sitting mayor and leading opposition candidate. This is nothing less than a commissioned and targeted investigation, designed by the Democratic Party and executed by the special counsel.”